Measuring Sustainability in the Russian Arctic: An Interdisciplinary Study

Methodological description(a) Underlying Definitions and Concepts: The underlying concept of population growth rate isbased on an intercensal population growth rate calculated from two censuses, each adjusted forincompleteness, with the components of population growth during a period, namely numbers ofbirths, deaths and migrants.(b) Availability and Sources of Data: Population growth can be calculated either from censusdata or from registration data (births, deaths and migrants). The last census in Russia tookplace in 2002, and its results are readily available from Rosstat.

Life expectancy

Brief Definition

UnitsAgenda 21

The average number of years that a newborn could expect tolive, if he or she were to pass through life subject to the agespecificdeath rates of a given period.YearsChapter 6: Protecting and Promoting Human Health.

Policy relevance(a) Purpose: The indicator measures how many years on average a newborn baby is expectedto live, given current age-specific mortality risks. Life expectancy at birth is an indicator ofmortality and health conditions. It is also one of the most favoured indicators of socialdevelopment and is used as one of the components of HDI.(b) Relevance to Sustainable Development: Mortality, with fertility and migration, determinesthe size of human populations, their composition by age and sex and their potential for futuregrowth. Life expectancy is closely connected with health conditions which are in turn an integralpart of sustainable development.(c) Linkages to Other Indicators: This indicator reflects many social, economic, andenvironmental influences and is closely related to other demographic indicators such aspopulation growth and indicators of human health and the environment like infant mortality,alcoholism incidence and water and air quality as well as economic indicators.Methodological description(a) Underlying Definitions and Concepts: Calculation of life expectancy at birth is based onage-specific death rates, which are calculated separately for males and females and for bothsexes combined. The death rates are commonly tabulated for ages 0 to 1 years, 1 to 5 years,and for 5-year age groups for ages 5 and above. In Russia, the life expectancy at birth iscalculated directly from registered deaths and population counts based on census data.

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(b) Availability and Sources of Data: Data on life expectancy are well available from Rosstat.

Policy relevance(a) Purpose: The purpose of the indicator is to measure poverty, literacy, education, lifeexpectancy, and other factors. It is a standard means of measuring well-being, especially childwelfare.(b) Relevance to Sustainable Development: Although HDI is not a sustainable index as such,its pragmatic approach and interpretation can be used to build an integrated picture of aregion’s sustainable living as the index uses several concepts and elements pertaining to theideas of sustainability.(c) Linkages to Other Indicators: The indicator is linked to many other socio-economicindicators such as GRP per head, unemployment rate, life expectancy, morbidity, infantmortality, and literacy rate.Methodological description(a) Underlying Definitions and Concepts: The HDI is a composite of three basic componentsof human development: longevity, knowledge and standard of living. Longevity is measured bylife expectancy. Knowledge is measured by a combination of adult literacy (two thirds weight)and mean years of schooling (one third weight). Standard of living is measured by purchasingpower based on real GDP/GRP per capita adjusted for the local cost of living (purchasing powerparity). The following formulas are used to calculate the HDI:

In Russia, the calculation of regional HDIs used the following indicators: GRP per headrecalculated at purchasing power parity in US dollars (based on data of the Federal Service forState Statistics for 1994 and 2001, and on reconstructed data for 1979-1980, 1985 and 1989);life expectancy at birth for both sexes; adult literacy levels (due to some non-comparability ofliteracy criteria used in censuses between 1979 and 2002, and non-comparability withinternational criteria, people with primary education, according to censuses and micro-censusesin 1979, 1985, 1989, 1994 and 2002, are taken to be literate); primary, secondary and tertiaryeducation enrolment (the ratio of the number of students at primary, secondary and highereducational establishments to the total population aged between 5 and 24 years) (Bobylev,2004).(b) Availability and Sources of Data: Data on Russian regional and national HDIs areavailable on the Internet and are published in several annual reports.

Recorded crimes

Brief Definition

Units

The number of crimes of all categories officially recorded in agiven period of time.Number per 10000 inhabitants

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Agenda 21 Chapter 6: Protecting and Promoting Health.

Policy relevance(a) Purpose: The purpose of the indicator is to assess state progress towards fighting crime ina region, with reducing both crime and fear of crime.(b) Relevance to Sustainable Development: The ability to live in a safe community is animportant element of sustainability. If one is afraid on the streets or in one’s own home, it isimpossible to be comfortable in society. Crime is also an indicator of deeper social andeconomic issues. An increase in the crime rate may result from a decrease in job opportunity,economic stagnation, inadequate education, or inadequate policing.(c) Linkages to Other Indicators: The indicator is closely linked to other socio-economicmeasures such as unemployment rate, population living below poverty line, HDI, etc.Methodological description(a) Underlying Definitions and Concepts: The indicator is defined as the total number ofrecorded crimes. The quarterly crimes made known statistical return is a simple count of thenumbers of crimes and offences recorded and cleared up by the police forces in the region. Onereturn is made every quarter and these are aggregated to give police force and national totals.Each crime/offence is recorded under an individual category and these categories can then beaggregated to form various crime/offence groups.(b) Availability and Sources of Data: The data is taken from the quarterly crimes made knownreturn sent to the interior departments by the police forces and published in the annualstatistical reports by Rosstat.Morbidity

Brief DefinitionUnitsAgenda 21

The number of cases of all diseases registered over time.Cases per 1000 inhabitantsChapter 6: Protecting and Promoting Human Health.Policy relevance(a) Purpose: The purpose of this indicator is to show the proportion of population who fell illfrom all categories of diseases.(b) Relevance to Sustainable Development: Human health is one of the fundamental pillars ofsustainable development. Agenda 21 stresses the need of intersectoral efforts involvingeducation, housing, public works and community groups to enable people in their communitiesto ensure sustainable development and develop prevention programmes rather than rely on

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remediation and treatment. General morbidity in a region is an important measure of the state ofpublic health and of effectiveness of public health system.(c) Linkages to Other Indicators: The indicator is linked with other environmental and healthindicators such as air emissions, wastewater discharge, hazardous and radioactive wastemanagement, life expectancy and others.Methodological description(a) Underlying Definitions and Concepts: Morbidity is defined as rate of occurrence ofdisease or other health disorder within a population, taking account of the age specific morbidityrates. Health outcomes include: chronic disease incidence/prevalence, rates of hospitalisation,primary care consultations, disability-days (e.g. days when absent from work), and prevalenceof symptoms.(b) Availability and Sources of Data: Data on morbidity are publicaly available from Rosstat.

Cancer incidence

Brief DefinitionUnitsAgenda 21

The number of cancer cases of all localisations.Cases per 1000 inhabitantsChapter 6: Protecting and Promoting Human Health.Policy relevance(a) Purpose: The purpose of the indicator is to estimate cancer incidence in the region.(b) Relevance to Sustainable Development: Malignant tumours have been associated withenvironmental problems, in particular with chemical pollution. For the Russian Arctic with itsnumerous chemical plants and dirty industries, this indicator is essential in showing the linkbetween increasing industrial processes and deteriorating cancer situation. The indicator hasalso important socio-economic implications.(c) Linkages to Other Indicators: The indicator is linked with other environmental and healthindicators such as air emissions, wastewater discharge, hazardous and radioactive wastemanagement, life expectancy, morbidity and others.Methodological description(a) Underlying Definitions and Concepts: A malignant tumour, also known as cancer, is adisease the natural course of which is fatal. Cancer cells exhibit the properties of invasion andmetastasis and are highly anaplastic. Their abnormal and uncontrolled division may go on toinvade and destroy surrounding tissues, even in some distant parts of a body.

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(b) Measuring Methods: In Russia, regional cancer hospitals (dispensaries) are involved incancer treatment and research.(c) Availability and Sources of Data: Data on cancer incidence, morbidity, survival, andmortality for cancer patients are available from the cancer dispensaries and can be also foundin the reports by Rosstat.

Infant mortality

Brief Definition

UnitsAgenda 21

The number of deaths under 1 year of age during a period oftime per 1000 live births during the same period.Deaths per 1000 live born.Chapter 6: Protecting and Promoting Human Health.Policy relevance(a) Purpose: The purpose of this indicator is to estimate the proportion of the newborns who dieduring the first year of life.(b) Relevance to Sustainable Development: Beyond its obvious relevance to policy makingfor healthy children, this is a sensitive indicator of availability, utilisation and quality of healthcare, particularly perinatal care. Moreover, given its association with GRP per head, familyincome, HDI, and nutrition, it is also considered one of the best indicators of overall socioeconomicdevelopment of a region.(c) Linkages to Other Indicators: This indicator, associated with access to perinatal healthservices, is closely linked with life expectancy at birth. It is more generally linked to many othersocio-economic indicators.Methodological description(a) Underlying Definitions and Concepts: Infant deaths include children dying prior to theirfirst birthday. These deaths are further sub-divided into neonatal (1-28 days of age) andpostneonatal (29-364 days). The 1950 WHO definition of live birth is “the complete expulsion orextraction from its mother of a product of conception, irrespective of the duration of thepregnancy, which, after such separation, breathes or shows any other evidence of life, such asbeating of heart, pulsation of the umbilical cord, or definite movement of voluntary muscles,whether or not the umbilical cord has been cut or the placenta is attached” (in UNICEF, 2003).(b) Measuring Methods: Infant mortality rate is calculated by dividing the number of deathsunder one year of age in a given period of time x 10000 by the number of live-births in the sameperiod of time.(c) Availability and Sources of Data: Data are available from Rosstat.

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Alcohol incidence

Brief DefinitionUnitsAgenda 21

The number of cases of alcoholism.Cases per 1000 inhabitants.Chapter 6: Protecting and Promoting Human Health.Policy relevance(a) Purpose: The purpose of the indicator is to show trends in alcoholism incidence over time.(b) Relevance to Sustainable Development: This is an important indicator of a region’s socialhealth closely related to other sensitive issues such as labour market situation, crime, publichealth, education, etc. Increasing alcoholism consumption in the Russian Arctic, in particularamong indigenous population is one of the major public health concerns. It is also one of themain reasons why the average life expectancy for Russian men has dropped to just 58.(c) Linkages to Other Indicators: The indicator is most closely linked with the indicators suchas unemployment rate, recorded crimes, Gini index, HDI, population living below poverty line,life expectancy, infant mortality, etc.Methodological description(a) Underlying Definitions and Concepts: Alcoholism, also known as alcohol dependence, isa disease that includes the following symptoms: craving which is a strong need or urge to drink;loss of control which is the frequent inability to stop drinking once drinking has begun; physicaldependence including withdrawal symptoms such as nausea, sweating, shakiness, and anxietyafter stopping drinking that can be relieved by drinking alcohol or by taking another sedativedrug; and tolerance which is the need to drink greater amounts of alcohol to get “high”.(b) Measuring Methods: In Russia, local and regional drug abuse clinics are involved in theinformation gathering, registration and treatment of patients with alcoholism.(c) Availability and Sources of Data: Data on alcoholism cases are available from regional orlocal drug abuse clinics. Limitations of the indicator are discussed in relevant section.

Number of registered NGOs

Brief Definition

UnitsAgenda 21

The number of registered voluntary non-profit organisations orpublic associations.Number per year.Chapter 27: Strengthening the role of non-governmentalorganizations: partners for sustainable development

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Policy relevance(a) Purpose: The purpose of the indicator is to measure the levels of citizen participation andpublic awareness in the region.(b) Relevance to Sustainable Development: Agenda 21 directly refers to NGOs as partnersfor sustainable development who “play a vital role in the shaping and implementation ofparticipatory democracy”. Sustainable development is impossible without a broad and effortfulinvolvement of the general public and stakeholders who “activate a sense of common purposeon behalf of all sectors of society”.(c) Linkages to Other Indicators: The indicator is directly linked with the HDI as a compositeindex of, inter alia, literacy and education levels. Indirect links to some environmental indicatorswhich are in fact the result of increased public activity in the field of environmental information(first of all the information on hazardous and radioactive waste and actual forest harvest) arealso evident.Methodological description(a) Underlying Definitions and Concepts: The indicator is defined as number of voluntarynon-profit organisations, including NGOs and political, sporting or social organisationsregistered or with premises in the region.(b) Limitations of the Indicator: The indicator should be used together with other indicators oflocal participation, e.g. voter participation rates, etc.(c) Availability and Sources of Data: Data on the registered NGOs are readily available fromRosstat through statistical yearbooks.

Forest area change

Brief Definition

UnitsAgenda 21

The amount of natural and plantation forest area tracked overtime.ha.Chapter 11: Combating Deforestation.Policy relevance(a) Purpose: The purpose of the indicator is to show the area covered by the forest formationsof a region over time.(b) Relevance to Sustainable Development: In the Russian Arctic, especially in Arkhangelskand Murmansk regions, forests play multiple ecological, socio-economic, and cultural roles.Forests provide many significant resources and functions including wood products, recreationalopportunities, habitat for wildlife, water and soil conservation, and a filter for pollutants. They

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support employment and traditional uses and biodiversity. There is general concern over humanimpact on forest health and the natural processes of forest growth and regeneration. Combatingdeforestation to preserve soils, water, air and biological diversity is explicitly considered inAgenda 21. The forest area of a region is not directly related to sustainable development.However, a continuing and fast decreasing forest area might be an alarm signal ofunsustainable practices in the forestry and agricultural sector. The availability of accurate dataon a country’s forest area, which is a basic characteristic of its forest resources, is an essentialrequirement for forest policy and planning within the context of sustainable development.(c) Linkages to Other Indicators: The indicator is closely linked with other forestry indicatorsas well as with environmental indicators such as protected area, threatened species, etc.Methodological description(a) Underlying Definitions and Concepts: The forest area is defined as lands with a treecrown cover of at least 10% of the area; plantation as the artificial establishment of forests byplanting or seeding; and natural forests as natural and/or semi-natural established forests. Thecomparisons of forest area over time using reference years allows the calculation of change inabsolute values and as a percentage of the deforestation rate.(b) Measuring Methods: The forest area is calculated as the sum of plantations and naturalforests areas with tree crown cover of at least 10%.(c) Limitations of the Indicator: The area figure does not give any indication on the quality ofthe forest, its ecosystem context, or forest practices. The indicator does not provide informationon the degradation of the forest resources in a region. The total forest area in a region mightremain unchanged, but the quality of the forest can become degraded.(d) Availability and Sources of Data: Data on the extent of forest areas are readily availablefrom Rosstat.

Actual forest harvest

Brief Definition

UnitsAgenda 21

The amount of actual annual felling of the mature crop of treesfor industrial purposes or sales.Cubic metres per yearChapter 11: Combating Deforestation.Policy relevance(a) Purpose: The purpose is to show the amount of forest harvested actually over time.(b) Relevance to Sustainable Development: See this section in Forest Area Change.

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(c) Linkages to Other Indicators: The indicator is closely linked with other forestry indicatorsas well as with environmental indicators such as protected area, threatened species, etc.Methodological description(a) Underlying Definitions and Concepts: Actual forest harvest is defined as the area of“principal felling”, or industrial harvest cut of the mature trees for industrial purposes or sales.(b) Measuring Methods: Regional and local timber industrial enterprises (leskhozy) areresponsible for earmarking harvest sites.(c) Limitations of the Indicator: Data on actual forest harvest are dispersed among differentagencies. Very often principal felling is reported as sanitary cuttings. Illegal logging is the mostimportant problem for the Russian forests.(d) Availability and Sources of Data: Only data on the forests managed by the Ministry ofNatural Resources are available; regional and local forest data are hard to obtain.

Area of forest fires

Brief DefinitionUnitsAgenda 21

The area of the forest destroyed or damaged by the fires.ha per tearChapter 11: Combating Deforestation.Policy relevance(a) Purpose: The indicator shows the forest area which was destroyed or damaged as a resultof forest fires.(b) Relevance to Sustainable Development: See this section in Forest Area Change.(c) Linkages to Other Indicators: The indicator is closely linked with other forestry indicatorsas well as with environmental indicators such as protected area, threatened species,environmental protection expenditure, etc.Methodological description(a) Underlying Definitions and Concepts: A forest fire is defined as any wildfire oruncontrolled fire that is burning in a wooded area.(b) Measuring Methods: Leskhozy are responsible for forest fire statistics.(c) Limitations of the Indicator: There is no single fire reporting system, and many firesremain unreported.(d) Availability and Sources of Data: Data on the forests managed by the MNR are onlyavailable; regional and local forest data are hard to obtain.